Each new dogmatic definition produces its own advantages: that of the Immaculate Conception has given us Lourdes and its truly oecumenical wonders." Nothing of all this is too much, and, in the face of the exigencies of modern times, it scarcely suffices.

Now that society has become incredulous, indifferent or, at the least, secular, the priest must possess the two intense and master ideas which support a soldier abroad among insurgents or barbarians, one being the conviction that he is of a species and essence apart, infinitely superior to the common herd; and the other is the thought that he belongs to his flag, to his chiefs, especially to the commanding general, and that he has given himself up entirely to prompt obedience, to obeying every order issued without question or doubt.[5283] Thus, in that parish where the permanent cure was once installed, especially in the rural districts,[5284] the legal and popular governor of all souls, his successor, the removable desservant, is merely a resident bailiff, a sentry in his box, at the opening of a road which the public at large no longer travel.

From time to time he hails you! But scarcely any one listens to him.

Nine out of ten men pass at a distance, along a newer, more convenient and broader road.

They either nod to him afar off or give him the go-by.